"There’s a very basic human, non-verbal aspect to our need to make music and use it as part of our human expression. It doesn’t have to do with body movements, it doesn't have to do with articulation of a language, but with something spiritual."

John Williams is an American composer who composed the soundtracks for the first three Harry Potter films. Well known in the film industry, he has frequently collaborated with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to score such films as Jaws, Superman: The Movie, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, E.T., Hook, Jurassic Park and the Indiana Jones and Star Wars sagas.

John Williams was born 8 February, 1932, in Long Island, New York, the son of Esther and John Williams, Sr. His father was a jazz drummer who played with the Raymond Scott[2] Quintet, whose music became internationally known through its use in Warner Bros. cartoons.

In 1948, Williams moved to Los Angeles with his family. Williams attended North Hollywood High School and graduated in 1950. He later attended the University of California, Los Angeles and studied privately with composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.[3] In 1952, Williams was drafted into the United States Air Force, where he conducted and arranged music for the Air Force Band as part of his duties.

After his service ended in 1955, Williams moved to New York City and entered Juilliard School, where he studied piano with Rosina Lhévinne.[3] During this time he worked as a jazz pianist at New York's many studios and clubs. He also played for composer Henry Mancini: The session musicians were John Williams on piano, Rolly Bundock on bass, Jack Sperling on drums, and Bob Bain on guitar—the same lineup featured on the "Mr. Lucky TV series. Williams recorded with Henry Mancini on the film soundtracks of Peter Gunn (1959), Charade (1963), and Days of Wine and Roses (1962). He was known as "Little Johnny Love" Williams in the early 1950s, and served as arranger and bandleader on a series of popular albums with singer Frankie Laine.

Williams was married to actress Barbara Ruick from 1956 until her death on March 3, 1974. They had three children together: Jennifer (born 1956), Mark (born 1958), and Joseph (born 1960). His youngest son, Joseph Williams, is the former lead singer for the band Toto. His daughter, Jenny Williams, is a singer. He married for a second time on July 21, 1980, to his current wife, Samantha Winslow. Williams is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi, the national honorary fraternity for college band members.

"I hadn't heard of either disco or Meco. When I was asked to listen to Meco's now-famous recording, I was a little apprehensive, wondering how a pop record could be made from "The March from Star Wars" and what it would be like. I immediately liked what I heard and sensed that a genuine communication was taking place. Meco took things forward another step by bringing Star Wars to a vast audience who otherwise would not have heard it in its original symphonic setting. I am most grateful to Meco for all of this and I am delighted that 'disco' and 'Meco' are now household words."

—John Williams

John Williams has won a total of five Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. He has been nominated for 21 Golden Globes and 59 Grammys. With 45 Oscar nominations, Williams currently holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person[4][5] being the second most nominated person in the history of the Academy Awards, tied with late fellow film composer Alfred Newman, to Walt Disney's 59. Forty of Williams' Oscar nominations are for Academy Award for Original Music Score and 5 are for Academy Award for Best Original Song. All five winners are in the former category.

Williams has also received two Emmy Awards and four nominations, seven BAFTAs, twenty Grammy Awards, and has been inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. In 2004 he received a Kennedy Center Honour. He also won a Classical Brit award in 2005 for his soundtrack work of the previous year.

Williams' richly thematic and highly popular 1977 score to the first Star Wars film was selected in 2005 by the American Fim Institute (AFI) as the greatest American movie score of all time. His scores for Jaws and E.T. also appeared on the list, at #6 and #14, respectively.[6]

In the Family Guy episode "Brian Does Hollywood", John Williams is presented as a nominee for Best Musical Score in the fictional Adult Movie Awards. Unlike the other nominees, who are shown wearing headphones and using electronic instruments to record their music, he is shown conducting a 48-piece orchestra.

John Williams was seen calling Daniel Negreanu's $100,000 challenge in a promotional video for PokerStars.

In the Family Guy sixth season opener "Blue Harvest" (the working title of Return of the Jedi), John Williams is seen conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, performing "The Force Theme" from Star Wars, as well as the theme for The People's Court. Later, "Luke" (played by Chris) finds the charred remains of Williams and the orchestra at his burning homestead and laments that the rest of the show will have to be scored by Danny Elfman, whom he immediately beheads.

In the 1995 Simpsons episode "The Springfield Connection", Homer complains about a Springfield Pops performance of music from Star Wars by exclaiming, "They're butchering the classics! John Williams must be rolling around in his grave".

In the Roy Zimmerman song "Guns In Space", John Williams is mentioned in the line "or they just do not like a war for which John Williams does the score."